Someday
by Rauros Falls
Summary: My version of how Daine accepts Numair's proposal. It's a lot different than I planned. Oneshot.


**A/N: This is my version of how Daine finally accepts Numair's proposal. This has turned out MUCH different than I planned. It was originally from Daine's point of view but that didn't work. Sorry if it's got some errors, I'm still stuck with WordPad. Bleh. I did fix the spelling of Salmalin, however. Also, as per request ofsome previousreviewers, added a few kisses. But, alas, I'm much better at reading fluff than writing it.**

**Disclaimer: Think it's mine? You're my new favorite person. Unfortunatly, it's not. It all belongs to Tamora Pierce.**

**Someday**

Alone in the castle courtyard, basking in the early predawn glow, stood a very tall man with raven black hair tied back in a horse tail. His name was Numair Salmalin. From his stance alone, an observer could tell that he held great power. He was a mage, one of the few black robe mages in the world and he held the title of most powerful mage in Tortall.

None of that mattered to him. All he cared about was a young girl, Veralidaine Sarrasri. In fact, he would have rather been born a Giftless commoner if it would convince her to marry him. As he stood there, he thought about her, every little detail he could remember.

He had met her nearly eleven years ago when he had shape-shifted into a hawk and lacked the strength to change back. She had gone out to find him. One bird in an enormous forest. And she found him. A shy, thirteen-year-old common-born girl with a "knack for animals" had rescued the realm's most powerful mage.

They had clicked right away. And not only because Numair helped Daine learn to harness her wildmagic. Both of them were easy-going, and Daine was the only person that could draw Numair away from his books. She also trusted him enough to tell him about her past.

Their frendship grew over time. It was very rare to see Daine without Numair or Numair without Daine. And very suddenly, he couldn't remember exactly when, Numair realized that he was in love with his student. He had never dared dream that she might return the feeling. He never would have reavealed how much he loved her if not for an incident in the Divine Realms.

_"DAINE! NOOO! No, no, no!" he sobbed, staring over the edge of the cliff, only barely preventing himself from jumping off after her. He had to get to her, he had to try to save her. His Magelet... gone. It wasn't possible. She was still alive. She had to still be alive. He finally remembered the bracelet. Numair yanked it off his wrist and clutched it in his hand, mentally shoving his gift into it, not stopping to configure an elaborate search spell. It nearly drained him._

_He arrived to late. Three spidrens surrounded a form swathed in their web. In his anger, he accidentally blew up one of the monsters, the one nearest him. He heard on of the others shreak, but in his rage Numair hardly noticed as he brought his staff down on it. Completely drained of his gift, he beat the spidren to death. Turning on the last one, he was glad to see it was already dead, thanks to Jelly and Leaf._

_Then exaustion and despair hit. Daine was gone... dead... forever. He slumped over his staff and let his greif wash over him. He remembered all of the conversations they had ever had. He would never hear her beautiful voice again._

_"Numair?" His cruel mind was playing tricks on him._

_"Please... are you alright?" Numair's eyes widened. That wasn't his imagination. That was really her. His Magelet._

_He whirled around to see Daine swaying on her feet. "You-- you're alive. I thought..."_

_She gave him a shaky smile that melted his broken heart. "I hurt too much to be dead."_

_Whatever resolve he had had, that comment, on top of the recent rollercoaster of emotion, destroyed it. He reached out and kissed her. He had kissed countless women before, but this... It was unbelieveable. He was completely numb, yet could feel everything. His blood felt like someone had lit it on fire. It was over too quickly._

_Sighing, he pulled away. "No," she whispered, kissing him again. This one was more gentle, but no less passionate. It felt like his insides were melting butter._

_He finally pulled away with a choking laugh. Picking her up, he carried her to a large rock and sat down with her on his lap. "Goddess bless." he said tenderly. "Magelet, I though I'd lost you."_

_She burst out crying. Understanding all she'd gone through, Numair simply wrapped his ams tighter and pressed his lips to her hair, letting her sob into his shirt._

_Finally she stopped, completely exausted. After a few moments of restful silence, Numair said, "We need to rest and eat. It'll soon be too hot to travel, and there is the path to relocate as well.If I remember correctly, this is the river on the map. It paralles our path and emerges from this canyon near the path. Once you feel better, perhaps you could fly up and locate it."_

_She didn't reply._

_"Sweet?" he asked, looking at her face. She was fast asleep._

_He stood up, cradling the girl in his arms, and addressed the darkings. "Let's find some shelter."_

After the Immortals War, Daine risked her life to find out if Numair was alive. That was the first time he proposed to her.

_"Will you marry me?"_

_She gave him a sly grin. "Only if you're very, very good."_

_"What if I'm very, very bad?" He asked, kissing her again._

_"Still, maybe someday."_

That was nearly ten years ago. He had asked her every day since, though the actual delivery varied somewhat. Today he had given her a simple note. Other times he had given her a rain of flower petals settling to form the same two words or the message written in thin air. He seemed to have no end to the means by which he asked her the question.

_Marry me?_

And each day Daine would reply.

_Someday._

A voice broke his thoughts. "Numair?" It was Daine.

He turned, smiling to greet her. "Magelet, what are you doing up so early?"

"I was near asking you the same thing." she said with a small grin.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came out here."

"What were you thinking of?"

"You."

Daine's smile grew. "Funny, I was thinking of you." Numair raised an eyebrow as she continued. "I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" he quiried, wearing a smirk of his own.

"Numair... Numair I'm pregnant."

The mage merely stood there, his face frozen in a look of complete shock. Daine looked up at him, a little uneasy at his reaction.

After what seemed like forever, an enormous smile crossed his face, it was one of complete bliss. On Numair, it made him look a bit moronic. "Daine! That's wonderful! I... I can't believe it!"

Daine's smile matched his own. "I was hoping you'd be happy." she said, blushing.

"Happy? I'm... I'm ecstatic!"

Daine's blush deepened.

"Does this mean you'll marry me now?"

Her face fell. "Numair, I'm still not ready... I..."

Again, the mage looked shocked. "But Daine, you know what it's like to be born out of wedlock. You spent your whole life being shunned and called horrible names."

Daine looked about to cry. "But..."

"Please Daine, I know how hard it was for you. Please don't make our child go through that."

She broke down crying. "Oh... Numair... I don't know what to do."

He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her hair, just like he did ten years ago. "Shhh... It's okay, Sweet. Shhh."

Once she settled down, she turned to face him again. "Please, don't ask again. I need to deal with this in my own time."

Numair nodded mutely, understanding.

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her hand. "And I promise, I won't tell anyone about..." he indicated her stomach.

"Oh, Numair. Thank you. So much." she said, trying to keep more tears from spilling. She turned and ran.

Numair just stood there for a long time afterwards, silently taking everything in.

The next day, he didn't ask her to marry him. It was in respect to her wishes, but he didn't know how long he could stand it.

The following day was Midsummer. Numair spent it locked away in his study. The rare occasions in which he saw Daine, he was glad to she looked lighter, happier.

During the Midsummer Feast, Numair slipped Daine a note reading, _Stables. After dinner._

She gave him a quizzical look, but he merely smiled mysteriously. On the inside, he was nearly going mad with impatience. He sat there, hardly paying any attention to his food, waiting for the king to rise, signaling the end of dinner. When Jon did stand, Numair practically leapt out of his seat, only to remember Jonathan's tradition of an after dinner speech. He immediately sat down, blushing furiously. Looking across the table, he saw Alanna giving him an odd look.

"Friends..." Jon began, spreading his hands in a welcoming gesture. "Numair, Daine... I have to say I'm impressed at your enthusiasm."

Numair turned to see Daine's face as red as his own. Apparently she had jumped out of her chair in impatience as well.

"Though, I think I know why..." At the same moment, Daine and Numair glanced at the note, then each other. They seemed equally clueless. Then realization dawned on Daine's face.

"Daine?" Jon asked.

The wildmage stood and cleared her throat. "I wasn't really ready to say anything, your highness. Could I explain at the after dinner party?"

Jon nodded as she sat back down. "Well, then, I guess I'm stuck making my boring speech." He cleared his throat and launched into a ten minute monologue thanking the guests for coming. The sun had completely set when he finished.

This time, Numair waited for most of the diners to leave before jumping up and sprinting to the stables, awarding him another look from the Lioness.

Daine was already there waiting.

"What is it, Numair? You were acting fair strange during dinner."

He grinned. "I could have said the same about you. What were you going to say?"

She chewed her lip. "Umm... I told him about the baby."

He lifted her chin, making her meet his eyes. "I'm glad you're not ashamed of it... or me, anymore." he said with a soft smile.

She blushed again and shook her head. "So what'd you drag me out here for?"

"To stargaze." he said simply.

"Stargaze!" she said in unbelief. "Couldn't that have waited?"

The mage chuckled. "Shh. Just look."

Daine obeyed and sat on the grass. The Cat was especially bright that night. Numair remembered telling Daine the story of the cat that had helped Alanna on her quest. Later, the animal supposedly became a constellation. He wasn't sure if it was a myth or not, Alanna never said, but he knew that the stars hadn't always been there.

They'd been out for almost ten minutes when Daine broke the silence. "Numair, we can stargaze any day, but the party's almost starting."

"Wait. Just watch a moment more." He pleaded.

She sighed and tilted her head up once more, waiting.

Suddenly, Numair heard her gasp in surprise as black fire shot out of the ground. He watched it sail up, and up, and up. When it was almost impossible to see, it arced back to the ground to explode into a million tiny sparks that settled around the couple. Three more fireballs shot up into the sky as the first one diminished.

Numair snuck a glance at the wildmage and grinned. Her lips were parted in complete awe as she reached out to touch one of the sparks. She stopped her hand and turned to him. "Numair... would it hurt if... is it alright to..." She mimed picking up the little glittering speck.

The mage nodded. "Go ahead."

She pinched it between her thumb and forefinger, examining it. It looked like a miniature person, one of the mythical fairies. Daine knew it was merely an illusion, but it was a wonderful look-alike. Numair made it glow brighter and jump onto her palm. Daine stroaked its head and set it on the ground once more, turning to Numair.

"Numair... I..." she seemed to be unsure what to say. "Thank you for waiting."

Numair looked confused. "Jon doesn't usually like it when people walk out during his speech."

She shook her head. "No, I mean, about our marriage." Understanding dawned on the mage's face. "You didn't ask me yesterday. I know you wanted to, but you trusted me enough to do what I asked. I don't feel trapped with you. And then you did this for me, when I haven't given you anything."

"Oh, Magelet, don't think that. You given me everything! You..." he said, until she silenced him with a kiss.

She pulled away with a smile. "Yes."

His eyes widened. She laughed. "Yes, yes, Numair I'd love to be your wife!"

The mage replied by jumping up and scooping her into his arms. He spun her around and swept her into a long, sweet kiss. Numair finally broke away with a strangled laugh. "We'd better go tell the others before we get to carried away."

She smiled and started heading back. He grabbed her wrist and she turned around. "Thank you, my darling." he whispered in her ear.

Daine replied with another kiss.

**A/N: Reviewers are much appriciated. I like to know what other people think of my work. If you'd like a reply, please say so somewhere in your review and I'll see what I can do.**


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